Tag Archives: Fashion

Step out in style this spring, pastels, brights and neutrals have come together to create an array of seasonal footwear you won’t be able to resist. We may only be in January but brighten up your winter wardrobe with a touch of summer loving. Start your holiday romance early!

Wedges are making an even bolder statement this spring/summer than previous seasons, seen on the perfectly pedicured feet of the models for Max Mara, Ralph Lauren and Mulberry the high street is already replicating their artistic design idea’s, step it up in style ladies!

Will you dare to be bold in brights or play it cool with pastels? Pick a side as fashion is about to divide, to colour block and pop or keep it sweet and sugary in a muted pallet.

Aldo have paired up with W Anderson, Preen and Mark Fast to produce an amazingly unique line it would be cruel to deprive your feet of!. Prices start from £125 per pair, how can put a price on shoe-heaven?

When we browse through the rails of our favourite high street retailers the recognition of certain styles and patterns is not an uncommon thought. Regardless of whether you have never laid eyes on their new season’s collection nor stepped foot in the store before, that nagging recollection of design imprinted in your mind cannot be ignored. And then you remember, a flash of genius inspires your memory to recall that almost identical garment strutting down the Luella runway only a few weeks previous. I have often wondered how mass produced rip off’s off limited edition designer-wear are still allowed, after all downloading music for free is illegal. The difference is fashion has no copyright protection, which consequently allows anyone to take an idea they have seen elsewhere and stick their name on it regardless of whether any alteration have been made or style adjusted. Dianne Von Furstenberg is the head of the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) and has been actively trying to achieve copyright protection for fashion designs, a notion continuously denied by retailers, and the reason stems from fashion houses themselves. Fashion is an innovative industry that stays afloat by praying on style conscious individuals, consequently trends are continuously moving forward and evolving, and to generate a trend more than one designer must be channelling the same theme, style or texture for recognition to be achieved. You see designers steal ides off of each other, either from past collations or present showcases, they just use their own creative flair to adjust the original inspiration and avoid detection, after all the foundations of fashion are set in stone, can anyone really own a skirt or a jacket? The only factor which differentiates high-end retailers from affordable everyday sellers like H&M is that the high street looks to copy the styles seen on the runway while the designers look to develop them into their own creations for the approaching season.‘Tom Ford’ stated after simple research that the reason the fashion industry continues to flourish regardless of the limited protection available is because each sector within caters for a different demographic. Now I’m unsure of just how basic this research was but it doesn’t take a genius to realize that the same individual who is willing to pay over the odds for a signature Chanel handbag is not likely to buy a £50 look-a-like from Topshop regardless the similarities. And that is why the industry works so well, the different levels of society create the different levels of the fashion food chain, the people who can afford the likes of Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane and Galliano will always pay to own the label in order to keep up with their social network, the rest of us will carry on appreciating the work and beauty of the garments we would ordinarily have to sell an arm and a leg to afford whilst shopping the trends generated from the catwalks on the high street.

2011 has undoubtedly been the year of reality TV, no longer does the likes of Big Brother suffice our need to indulge in other people’s lives, we require a story, a plot and consequently a drama to follow in order to relate and value real life and real people supposedly going about their everyday business on our very own TV screens. The Only Way is Essex, Made in Chelsea, Desperate Scousewives and Geordie Shaw saw ITV, E4 and MTV battle it out to be crowned realities number one station. Meanwhile the cast have gone about turning themselves into a national brand, both Amy Childs and Mark Wright have branched out and left their roots to pursue bigger and better things, Joey Essex’s statement word ‘REEM’ inspired a song and an endless amount of slogan embellished merchandise and Lauren Goodyear now has her own successful beauty line, encouraging young girls to turn a similar shade of orange! It all began with the vajazzle, followed by the ladylike term of ‘Tashing on’ from those addictive ‘no angels of the north’ and now we’ve see the arrival of the ‘Scouse Brow,’ what weird and wonderful beauty treatment or lifestyle motto will appear next to capture the avid viewer‘s attention?

The world seam’s to have fallen in love with MOC’s Caggie Dunlop’s quirky laid back style while the rest of the show’s fashion pack get equal coverage for their glammed up posh totty, teen angst style remedies. TOWIE’s own angels brought the all in onzie out of the house and down to the shops inspiring a nation to unfortunately follow suit. Unsurprisingly these well groomed and entertaining women are not only dominating out television screens but appearing in our glossies for best dressed too! Each and everyone, whether best buds on the show or from rival stations are gunning to out do the other for the title queen or reality style!

No doubt 2012 will see these fame hungry individuals pull some epically enviable ensembles out of the bag, influence a few more fashion trends and cause even more on screen drama. So as the plot thickens the debate continues, who’s your real life style icon? Which show is truly best dressed?

So it probably looks like I have disappeared off of the edge of the world never to blog again, however I have in fact been undertaking a new project. http://www.ownzee.com/SmudgeLove

Ownzee is a blog like all the others out there but created to enhance visual effects, they look at their blogs as mini magazines… Not that I don’t love this and my parent blog to pieces but I needed to challenge my creative tendencies, ala Smudge! My very own digitalized fashion magazine (like there isn’t enough of those around right?!)… So take a look! All feedback is welcome and I’ll keep you update with future posts… Unless you HATEEE it!!

Smudge .xo

“Where anyone who loves fashion, anywhere in the world, can sell fashion, to anyone who loves fashion, anywhere in the world.” Asos Marketplace isn’t as streamlined as your normal online shopping experience as the items placed on there are by the likes of you and me, but if you have the patience and perseverance there are some real gems hiding amongst the average. The easiest way to marketplace-it unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, is by shopping the 301 boutiques the store has to offer, a mixture of vintage, independent and multi-brand from over 20 different countries- this way your eliminating some of the e-bay style sellers consequently placing yourself in a more fashion friendly environment your probably used to. By shopping boutique to boutique you’re allowing yourself to familiarize with the brand and form an opinion of the seller as all their merchandise is all under the same roof, if you have an ASOS account you have the ability to follow your favourites and keep up to date with new stock, an essential if your planning on becoming a true market girl as the majority are one off‘s and you‘ll need to get in their quick!You can join the Marketplace with a basic account for free where you have the ability to buy and sell unlimited items for a 10% sale and delivery fee, or for a £50 subscription and 15% commission you can run your very own online boutique. Ideal if you manage your own independent fashion line or are a vintage retailer as you’ll receive your own homepage, blog, account manager and enhanced visibility. There really is something for everyone on site, and the idea enables ASOS as a brand to differentiate itself from other online fashion retailers, not only can they now safely say they cater for everyone’s wants and needs they’re also promoting up and coming talent across the world allowing our independent fashion industry to continue growing even with such economic difficulties. In appreciation I took my time to trawl through those 301 boutiques (I couldn’t brave the unorganised chaos of searching the 1000’s of women’s items through category) to pick out my favourite designs and boutiques to share with your good selves. Enjoy .x0

IBOO Established in March this year with 155 followers IBOO is a UK independent label vowing to change the world one bead at a time! One off size 8 uber cute dresses with some edgy exceptions appear to be their speciality. MISSMILNE Dating back to 2005 Miss Milne is another UK-based independent label, who pride themselves on designing clothing for Women who are constantly evolving and have the power to hold a stare. A definite must see if your adamant on standing out from the crowd as you‘ll be the only woman sporting their style for miles! Never Full Dressed Never fully dressed has over 630 followers and 120 items for sale so it’s not surprised their one of the market place’s much loved independent designers. Established in 2009 the girls are inspired by “mum, music, mood, money, movies, and MERRIMENT” and believe you are never fully dressed without a smile.DOROTHY’S WARDROBE A vintage fashion house with a brand focus of fun fashion inspired by the Wizard of Oz. Created in 2010 the boutique already has over 300 followers and a large variety of male and female style bringing vintage bang up to date. An accessible way to shop the past!

So I’m ashamed to say that this blog does take a back seat to my main page smudgelove.wordpress.com, I guess when I have so much going on in my real life it’s a lot easier to rant endlessly about personal experiences rather than weekly trend updates. I’m sorry! Bad blogger.

However I was pleased and equally surprised when received the Versatile Blogger Awards from http://signaturealamode.com/, In all honesty since Smudge Love Fashion evolved as an individual from its parent blog I’ve only managed to grace the page with 11 posts… Boo me!

Right so onto the ermmm interesting part?!.

I get real retail withdrawal symptoms after going around 14 days without purchasing any new piece of clothing or accessory.

The Duchess is my favorite film and still brings me to tears even after viewing it over 15 times!

I refuse to dress for winter until snow hits the ground. Spring/Summer wardrobes are just so much more refreshing!

If I won the lottery one of the first things I would do is open up a clothing boutique, rapidly turning into a well-known, individual retail chain across the country!

I wish I was a more creative and inspired soul… At the moment it seems my mind is consumed with personal problems… Totally to blame for blocking my creative flow!

Every now and again, when pay day is in the foreseeable future so my shopping funds have been have been and gone, to conquer withdrawal symptoms I go on a fantasy shop.

Fantasy shop- when one visits online retail sites selling merchandise at prices unaffordable based on ones annual salary. So instead said individual pretends she had won the lottery or found a very rich and very generous man to sweep her off her feet and launch her into a society filled with chauffer driven cars, charity dinners and endless shopping, consequently filling the virtual shopping bag with everything her hear desires.

So call me a dreamer, my lavish taste has always surpassed my bank balance so don’t judge me for fantasizing, I also like to pretend I‘m a solid size six rather than continuously darting between two, just to add that little but more of wishful thinking! This weeks dream shopping destination is Shopbop.com… A website I haven’t visited for a while, recently I have been trying to keep my fantasy shops to locations I have a hope in hell of purchasing at least a few items tossed in the full to capacity shopping bag when pay day arises! But I was feeling creative, and it’s rare to find a site supplying designer garments with an edge, so when someone decides I deserve a gifted deposit of over 10k to invest in my wardrobe this site will be the destination I chose to blow it all in!

The range is extremely versatile and also very large, the brands- some common others unexpected and unknown genius, the models are real sized women (I’d like to think I’m smaller than most of them) and the prices range is evenly distributed along the pay scales. You’ll be pleased to know that some not every item on there is at Herve Lerger’s £1000 per body con dress!

Oh yeah, 48 items later and over an hour and a half of browing I’ve worn myself out and need a long relaxing bath. Genius! ♥

Whilst flicking through the pages of Look magazine I stumbled upon their online store suggestion… Three Floor. If I was to sum this online retail space up in one phrase it would be… Trying too hard.

The site is well put together, especially for a newcomer to an ever-growing dog-eat-dog market and the merchandise well designed my only criticism would be their garments have been designed with edge, urban appeal- wait for it! Despite this because the collection is so small the individual quality feels forced- it becomes almost boring to view and predictable after page two.

Price wise, think slightly more expensive than Topshop butless than their major independent competitors, so it‘s not necessary to break the bank in order to leave the house in an outfit unlikely to be worn elsewhere! Three floor could be one to watch, with the right marketing and a more versatile range I can see them following in the footsteps of Urban Outfitters, they too are a fan of geometric prints, simple statements with pastel shades and edgy silhouettes. The label just lacks a stylish direction, it’s as if they have taken all major trends this season and next and attempted to work them into one collection, despite this individually speaking some pieces are very wearable and attractive to the eye!